The Rat Who Came to Dinner: Alternate Ending
by crazyforkpop
Summary: Uploaded upon request, it probably isn't very good compared to the alternate ending for Nerves of Steal, but I hope it does justice :P


**Thank you everyone who posted lovely reviews for the alternate ending to "Nerves of Steal". Upon request, here is the alternate ending to "The Rat Who Came to Dinner"! :) I have a pretty rusty memory of the episode, so it probably isn't very good but I hope you like it!**

* * *

Arthur was originally dreading having Mr Ratburn coming to stay at his home. It was at first pretty awkward for him having his own teacher stay in his home, not to mention that he was probably the strictest teacher at Lakewood Elementary School and gave out a lot of assignments, even though he actually _did_ teach. However Mr Ratburn has been granted consent from Arthur's parents to stay in his home since there was construction going on in his house due to a broken roof.

Ironically, Mr Ratburn did have a lot of talents behind his strict classroom regulations. He taught Arthur how to do magic tricks, watched Spooky Poo, which has his childhood favourite cartoon alongside Mr and Mrs Read's, and ate dinner together. Surprisingly, Arthur did have a great time.

The next day at school, Arthur's friends were surprised to see Arthur walking into school with a smile on his face.

"What was it like with Mr Ratburn?" asked Francine, "Did he give you a lot of homework?"

"I asked my mom and she said you can stay there until Mr Ratburn comes home," said Buster.

"No thanks," said Arthur with a smile on his face, "It wasn't so bad after all. Mr Ratburn taught me a magic trick. We had fun!"

Mr Ratburn waved at the class, particularly towards Arthur's direction, and Arthur did so to once he arrived in the classroom.

* * *

Later at lunch, Arthur's friends were making a huge fuss over a math pop quiz.

"I got a C- on that quiz!" complained Buster.

"Well you beat me," said Muffy, "What did you get Arthur?"

"He got an A!" said Francine. "It's not fair!"

"What do you mean it's not fair?" asked Arthur in frustration.

"She means that we can only get good grades if we brought our teacher home and made special cakes for him!" said Muffy.

"I studied hard for that quiz!" protested Arthur.

"Oh yeah, sure." mumbled his friends with sheer sarcasm.

"We believe you," scoffed Francine, "The fact that your teacher lives at your house is just a coincidence! I'm being sarcastic."

* * *

After school, his friends would not stop to wait for Arthur.

"Hey Buster!" called Arthur, "Wanna come over and watch Spooky Poo?"

"No thanks," said Buster, "I don't wanna get in between you and your _new friend_."

"Hey Francine, Muffy, wanna go to the Sugar Bowl?"

"Sorry, we're going to the Sugar Bowl!"

Arthur sighed.

"Hey!" called the Brain, "Gimme my books back!"

"Sure," said Arthur, "Come to my house to get them!"

"No thanks, I'd rather you get them back here tomorrow. Oh, by the way Fern asked me to give you this."

Brain handed Arthur a sheet of paper, which was a drawing of Arthur standing next to Mr Ratburn, smiling, both of who were wearing suits, and Arthur was being nicknamed "Rat Junior."

"What's wrong with everybody?!" shrieked Arthur.

He felt something hit him.

"OW!" shrieked Arthur.

"Teacher's pet! Teacher's pet!" jeered Binky, "Something-something-that-rhymes-with-pet! And that means you Arthur!"

* * *

Arthur was just walking back home, greeted by his dog Pal.

"Oh Pal," said Arthur hugging him in relief, "It's so good to be home."

Arthur was just passing by the dining room, where Mr Ratburn was eating some chocolate cake.

"Hello Mr Ratburn," said Arthur glumly.

"Oh, hello Arthur. Arthur?"

Arthur then went to his parents who were in the living room.

"What happened, Arthur?" asked his mother.

Arthur showed him the drawing.

"Rat and Rat Junior?" asked Mr Read. "Why would they do this?"

"None of my friends with talk to me now, and Binky called me a teacher's pet!" said Arthur.

"Maybe we should ask Mr Ratburn to talk to them." suggested Arthur's mother.

"I guess so." said Arthur's father.

It was then that Mr Ratburn walked in, with a telephone make of juice cans.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear because DW handed me this _juice can_, but you know I wouldn't give you special treatment, Arthur, just because I stay at your house. I'll have a word with the students first thing in the morning tomorrow, so don't you worry." said Mr Ratburn.

"Okay," said Arthur.

"Just act the way that you usually would," said Mrs Read.

* * *

The next day at school, Arthur's friends pretended that he did not even exist, whilst Binky continued to call him a "teacher's pet".

Then Mr Ratburn walked in.

"Good morning class."

"Good morning Mr Ratburn."

"Now before we get started, I would like to ask Arthur, Buster, Francine, Fern, Brain, Muffy and Binky to stay behind at break please."

* * *

When lunch break came, the students were gathered near Mr Ratburn's desk.

"Now I know that you all probably know that I was at Arthur's house, but this is not because I favour him. I have agreed to stay at different people's houses for a couple of more days, due to construction at my house, whereas my roof has been broken. So now I let you know that I am staying at different student's houses, and for that, Mrs Baxter has invited me to stay on Wednesday and Thursday, whilst Mr and Mrs Frensky invited me for Friday and Saturday. But I must let you know now that picking on Arthur is not acceptable, and this is a form of bullying, which is not at all tolerated."

Mr Ratburn then pulled out some evidence from his briefcase.

"Fern, did you draw this?"

"Yes," admitted Fern, sadly.

"Binky, did you call Arthur names and throw snowballs at him?"

"Yes."

"As for the rest of you, were you making fun of Arthur?"

Several students admitted it.

"I am not favouring particular students or Arthur, but I do not allow this sort of behaviour towards any student. And for that, each of you please apologise to Arthur."

"We're sorry, Arthur." his friends apologised.

"And with that being said, I'll see you tomorrow at your house, Buster, and at your house, Francine, this weekend. You may leave now for lunch."

* * *

"Look," said Buster, "We're really sorry we were acting this way, but inside we were actually curious about what it was like to have him. What was it like?"

"I can't believe my parents would do this to me!" complained Francine, "Please, Arthur, tell me what Mr Ratburn did!"

Arthur continued to have his friends surround him, constantly asking for Arthur about the experience with Mr Ratburn at his house.


End file.
